Which to use
“terra” and “terraço” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #331
- “terra” frequency rank
- #11,170
- “terraço” frequency rank
- 11501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terra | terraço |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | solo composto formado por partículas minerais e substratos orgânicos | pavimento descoberto no alto ou ao nível do pavimento duma casa |
Where the eye mixes terra and terraço
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. terra runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against terraço's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between terra and terraço
A purely visual mix-up. terra (/ˈtɛ.Rɐ/) and terraço (/tɨ.ˈRa.su/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “terra” sits inside “terraço”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
terra is recorded at frequency rank #331, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.Rɐ/. terraço is at rank #11,170, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɨ.ˈRa.su/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 11501, this pair ranks #61,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of terra vs terraço
Shared letters: aert. Private to "terra": -. Private to "terraço": oç.
"terra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "terraço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- terra ← etrra · tera · terar · trera · tterra
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "terra" and "terraço" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "terra" or "terraço" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "terra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terraço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terra" and "terraço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terraço vs torrado". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #61,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.